Sunday 1st and Monday 2nd May 2022 In the spring of 2020, Robert had planned an extensive trip, loosely based on Phinneas Fogg’s journey Around the World in 80 days. The plan was to circumnavigate the globe without flying. However, when cases of Covid were first being reported he re-routed several sections and was forced to book plane tickets. Obviously the trip was eventually completely cancelled but we were left with some vouchers to use up and this has allowed us to fly to Iceland to break our journey to America and visit the recently opened Sky Lagoon. Despite predictions of airport delays prior to the early May bank holiday our transit through Gatwick was trouble free. It felt good to be travelling overseas and visibility in the air was good as few over Scotland. Reykjavik was one of the first places we visited after we retired. We brought our daughters here in December 2018 in an unsuccessful attempt to see the Northern Lights but spent one magical night at the Blue Lagoon Silica Hotel and we have wanted to return ever since. Robert spotted the vapours rising from the Blue Lagoon complex as we flew overhead. The landscape looks very […]
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Tuesday 1st February 2022 When we tell people that we have hired a narrowboat for three months the responses vary from “Are you completely mad?” to “Great, could we come too?”. Matilda falls somewhere in between. Robert felt the need to plan national holidays to pass the time in lockdown when travelling abroad was a distant dream and Matilda absentmindedly agreed without necessarily believing it would ever happen. Yet here we are at the start of February having our familiarisation session on The Duke from David Dare. Fortunately the sun shone brightly on this endeavour and we set off in unseasonably glorious warmth which made it seem less of an insane undertaking. Originally we had planned to travel just a short distance and go through three locks but the sunshine made us bold and we tackled another eight before the light started to fade. You can tell who is wrapped up warm and who is in shirtsleeves doing all the hard work. We moored overnight close to The Blue Lias pub. When Matilda scouted ahead for mooring spots at about 16:45 the pub looked very closed so we moored on the opposite bank, a little further down. Matilda felt she, […]
Tuesday 8th February 2022 We interrupt our narrowboat adventure to travel to Italy to watch a Six Nations rugby match. We have talked about going for a long time and the trip was originally booked pre-Covid. Robert maintains this is a birthday present for Matilda as the Italy vs England match usually takes place around her birthday weekend on alternate years. On this basis she insisted our girls should come too [presence not presents] and they will be joining us when their work commitments permit, at the weekend. Travelling via London City Airport is very civilised. Toiletries do not need to be in a plastic bag and liquids and technology can all be packed in your luggage and left in there. Even though Robert and Matilda each set off security scanners and Robert had to take off both his belt and his shoes we were still through very quickly. Nothing incriminating was found but Matilda has resolved not to wear her button fly Levi’s through airport security in future. Clear skies gave us a good view of the snow-capped Alps as we flew over. We landed in Florence and caught the tram for a very reasonable €1.5 each from right […]
Thursday 25th to Saturday 27th November 2021 Earlier in the year whilst restrictions were still in place we started planning a trip with friends to the Christmas market in Bath. Robert felt that this was too good an opportunity to miss and that it should be scheduled to coincide with a match at Bath RFC’s home ground at The Rec. Restrictions were subsequently eased and our friends voted to go further afield to Bruges for some foreign festive fun. By this time however Robert had his heart set on the rugby match and one of the things on Matilda’s wish list of (postponed) activities to celebrate her 60th birthday was a visit to the Thermae Bath Spa. Having had limited travel opportunities recently we decided we could afford the time and the money to visit both Bath and Bruges. Robert booked a two hour session at the Thermae Bath Spa on Thursday 25th and tickets to the Bath versus Exeter Chiefs match for Friday 26th November, not necessarily in that order. It was strangely satisfying to be boarding an intercity train again at Paddington and to find ourselves gliding out of the station on another railway adventure. Luckily when we […]
Monday 6th and Tuesday 7th September 2021 We like to break up the journey to the Scillies and take in a few interesting sights on the way. This year our first overnight stay was Charlestown where we had a lovely view over the harbour from our room window. We had visited briefly last year and decided it was so picturesque it would be worth an overnight stay to allow us to sample the local hostelries . . . . . . and the atmosphere at the harbour-side bars in the evening. Well rested after an uncharacteristic lie-in we took a quick stroll in the morning before leaving to take a look at St Austell. Matilda had been expecting a castle keep on a mound, based purely on the brewery logo, but instead we found St Austell Market House which is apparently said to be “the jewel in St Austell’s crown”. During the middle ages markets and fairs were often held in churchyards, but Edward III passed a law prohibiting such events on church land and markets therefore had to relocate. Records show that in 1791 a small market building stood here but the successful town outgrew it and in 1842 […]
Friday 20th and Saturday 21st August 2021 Although retirement allows us the freedom to plan for our journeys to take place outside school holidays, the restrictions imposed by the pandemic made us eager to travel this summer and enjoy a view across pastures new. Having arranged a trip to Ffestiniog with friends, the drive to north Wales on a Friday in August reminded us why we no longer wish to travel during the peak summer season. The journey to Llangollen took six hours and 20 minutes – nearly two hours longer than expected. We will remember this in future. But it still felt good to be in another country and on arrival at the Gaerhyfryd Campsite near Corwen in Wales all was peace and calm and the warden proved to be very welcoming. Having filled up with water and plugged Al in . . . . . . the warden kindly directed us to The Blue Lion pub in Cynwyd. . . . . . where Robert had to share his knowledge by giving a new member of staff some useful pointers for dealing with lively lager. Matilda was grateful not to have a glass of froth. The following morning […]
Monday 5th to Thursday 15th July 2021 Southwold seems to be becoming an annual event now that we have a motorhome/campervan and, despite the rise in the number of people wishing to holiday in the UK this year, having booked well in advance, we had two pitches at our disposal and had the pleasure of a range of different people staying at varying times. John and Belinda and Clare and Roger had also booked their own pitches for part of the stay. [See Selfie of the day.] Our first visitors were Graham and Dee and there seemed to be some confusion about the best position for their van and awning but fortunately this was eventually resolved. High winds overnight meant that both awnings had to be taken down the following morning. It was a real pleasure to have Graham and Dee join us for a few days at the start of the holiday particularly as . . . . . . this coincided with her birthday. It was great to catch up after such a long time and all the limitations of lockdown. There are wide open views back across the flat Suffolk landscape towards the town from the campsite. […]
Friday 4th September 2020 Initially, 2020 was scheduled to be the year we circumnavigated the northern hemisphere without flying but these plans had to be, first, adapted and then shelved completely in the face of the global Covid-19 pandemic. Over the past several months therefore we have been the non-Travelling Herd apart from a few days away in Southwold in Alan the motorhome in August. Prior to lockdown, we had booked a week in Tresco on the Isles of Scilly and we are pleased that travel restrictions have now been lifted sufficiently for us to be able to go and support the beleaguered UK tourist industry. The 300 mile journey across to Tresco can be an adventure in itself with travel options from the mainland including the Scillonian ferry, a light aircraft or the helicopter. At various times, the members of our holiday bubble will be making use of all of these. The two of us decided to take a few days driving down to Penzance prior to our helicopter flight on Tuesday afternoon, taking in some more of the beautiful English countryside. On Friday, we drove slowly along the congested A303 past the majestic and iconic Stonehenge on our […]
Friday, March 13th 2020 For most of his working life, and certainly for all his married life, Robert had planned that he would retire at 55. As a teacher, that should ideally coincide with the end of a term, so this would mean retiring at the end of the autumn term in December 2019. Robert had always intended that he would travel as extensively as he could with his wife, Matilda, when they retired. With this retirement date in mind, he therefore felt that 2020 was the year to plan the first really big trip for Travelling Herd. [Regular readers will be aware that he actually retired before he turned 55, but this is the reason that 2020 became such a focal point.] So as the endgame approached he looked for interesting travel opportunities. As many of you know he is keen on his train travel, so why not do the longest train journey in the world – the Trans-Siberian Railway? Research led to the travel blog of Matthew Woodward and his several trips on the Trans-Siberian. The other go-to website for world wide train travel is The Man in Seat Sixty One. There are in fact three different routes […]
Wednesday 1st to Thursday 2nd January 2020 To start our second family quest to see the Northern Lights, Robert and Matilda travelled by train to Gatwick whilst their daughters drove themselves there with the larger items of luggage. With a two hour time difference between the UK and Finland most of the day was taken up with travel. Having checked in to our hotel we had limited time to find a restaurant with suitable vegetarian options for our evening meal. The choice of restaurant was further restricted by the fact that we had arrived on New Year’s Day and many places were closing early or offering a limited menu following the previous night’s revelry. The hotel was opposite a well-known fast food chain however, so if all else failed we knew we could at least order fries. Walking round the town we passed immense snow and ice sculptures – see selfie of the day. We eventually identified a bar offering a wide range of local beers and both meat and vegetarian burgers. With the evening meal planned, we first visited a pub for an aperitif and then returned to eat. The bar also featured an alcove at the rear with […]
Monday 2nd December to Tuesday 3rd December 2019 Having planned to meet friends in Bath to enjoy the famous Christmas market there we decided to break the journey and found a place to stay near the ancient site of Old Sarum. From here we walked into Salisbury and visited the Cathedral. The original building was constructed between 1075 and 1092 but just five days after the consecration ceremony it was damaged in a storm and needed repairs: we felt that some people might have taken this as a sign of divine displeasure. In about 1120 to 1130 the cathedral was rebuilt on a much grander scale, although some of these buildings have since been demolished. Today there is a peaceful cloister which is said to be the largest of any cathedral in Britain. In the Chapter House off the cloisters you can see the best preserved one of just four remaining original copies of the Magna Carta, dating from June 1215. This document covers such varied topics as the standardisation of weights and measures and the rights of the Church as well as the importance of legal due process and, crucially, the principle that no one, not even the king, […]
Wednesday, 13th November 2019 This trip is a first for both of us: the first time either of us has stepped on African soil and, in Paul Simon’s words, “walked under African skies”. Flying into Marrakech Menara Airport the landscape beneath us looked predominantly arid but, where it had been cultivated, the fields were very regular and angular with regimented rows of crops. In the arrivals lounge there were a couple of kiosks offering local SIM cards at a cost of €1 per Gb. A WorldSIM from our usual international supplier, for short stays in non-European countries, works out at £230 per Gb in Morocco, whilst O2 sent us a message saying the charge was £7 per Mb (the equivalent of an eye-watering £7,000 per Gb). The local offering is clearly considerably cheaper than a WorldSIM and we opted for two 20 Gb SIMs so that we could both stay in touch. Buying a local SIM obviously makes financial sense and all you need to provide is your passport. However, you do need to be aware that, at the kiosk we went to, payment was cash only – no cards – so you may need to get some local cash […]
Tuesday 10th September 2019 One of the many pleasures of being able to devote more time to travelling is returning to cities and places which we have already visited without feeling we are sacrificing seeing somewhere new. Invariably, each visit is different and this time it was a specific exhibition which inspired us to bring our younger daughter on the Eurostar on her first trip to Paris. The top section of the Eiffel Tower is visible from our hotel room so, having deposited our luggage in the early evening, we took a walk down towards the closest Kusmi Tea shop where Matilda invested in some of her new favourite blend: St Petersburg. It is a variation on Earl Grey with additional hints of red berry and caramel. Mindful of the environmental impact of tea bags she bought loose leaf tea. From here we continued on towards the River Seine and the Eiffel Tower. We had both visited Paris independently before we met and have returned several times since our first visit together in 1992. But none of our joint visits have yet included the Eiffel Tower. This time we have booked to go up all the way this elegant engineering […]
Friday, 16th to Saturday, 17th August 2019 From Cardiff Central Station we walked a short distance around the Principality Stadium along the bank of the River Taff to check in to the Holiday Inn. There are several Victorian covered arcades which provided some shelter from the rain as we started to look round this historic city. There is also a Victorian glass-covered market which opened in its current position in 1835. Although this is not as splendid as some we have visited, it did include the extensive Spillers record store on the upper level. We had decided we wanted to visit Cardiff Bay which is a little way out from the centre and which you can travel to by river taxi: the journey takes about 20 minutes. There is an informative commentary onboard but unfortunately the rain on the windows, coupled with a slight delay on the audio, meant that it was difficult to make out the landmarks which were being pointed out to us as we passed them. Sights included the white clapboard Norwegian Church, now dismantled, relocated and re-opened as an arts centre, where Roald Dahl and his family worshipped. As we disembarked we asked a member of […]
Wednesday 26 June 2019 Ironically, having revelled in the fact that we no longer need to go away during the school holidays and can therefore avoid higher prices, other people’s fractious children and the hottest months of the year, our trip to Corsica and Sardinia saw us heading for Paris in a positive heatwave. Temperatures in Paris hit 34 degrees on the day we arrived, schools have closed, national exams have been cancelled and vehicles are being restricted in the capital to combat pollution. As we arrived at our four star Holiday Inn, close to the Gare de Lyon [which features a picturesque and elegant clock tower] . . . . . . the neon sign on the building next door flashed the immortal words “Sex Shop”. Matilda felt she was stepping back in time to the period before retirement and before she had issued her minimum star requirement for hotels when Robert habitually booked those closest to the station for convenience. Curiously, the areas around the main line stations all across Europe seem to feature establishments which offer this service. Having checked in and applied sun protection we walked to Notre Dame to pay our respects to this iconic […]
Wednesday 22nd May 2019 The journey to the Isles of Scilly includes a range of different transport options and so strongly appeals to Robert. As he arrived back from France on Tuesday evening he had decided to optimise our time on Tresco by going straight to catch the overnight sleeper from Paddington Station where Matilda greeted a much-loved character from her childhood reading. The first class waiting room was almost deserted. Our experience of first class sleepers in India had made us slightly wary but our cabin was clean and comfortable, if rather compact. We were able to have a bite to eat and a night cap in the buffet car before settling in for the train journey to Penzance. It is a short walk from Penzance Station to the dock from whence the Scillonian departs. Staff take charge of luggage and labels show which of the islands it needs to be transported to. Restorative coffees were available on board, the crossing was calm and sunny. It was a real pleasure to spot dolphins and whales playing in the wake behind the ship. We felt thrice blessed when we saw seals on the crossing from St Mary’s quay to Tresco. […]